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Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions
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From: kientzle@netcom.com
Subject: Re: Linux vs FreeBSD v2.0
Message-ID: <kientzleD25HL7.H1x@netcom.com>
Summary: No big differences. What's the fuss?
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
References: <3em8bi$88q@clarknet.clark.net> <3eprlq$lm@knobel.gun.de>
Date: Mon, 9 Jan 1995 18:19:55 GMT
Lines: 37
>darens@clark.net wrote:
>: What would be the advantages of installing fbsd instead of linux ?
I think one of the big reasons this question gets asked so often
is simply that there aren't nearly as many differences as the crusaders
would have you believe. Especially when you consider that the different
free Unices (FreeBSD, NetBSD, Linux) have so much code in common.
They all use the same X code, the same GNU utilities, the same
editors, word processors, communications, etc, etc. From the notices
on the newsgroups, even driver code is rapidly ported from one to
the others. The only practical differences are in the kernels
themselves, and even there, ideas are rapidly moving from one to
another. I suspect if you looked at the source tree for usable
systems on each one, you'd find over 3/4 of the code in common.
(The kernel is really only a small part of the whole system.)
The biggest deciding factors are:
1) whether you know someone who's already using one that can
give you assistance (I didn't.)
2) whether you have already have experience with BSD-ish
systems or SysV-ish systems. (Linux is more SysV-ish and Free/Net BSD
are more BSD-ish, though the two do seem to be converging.) (All my
previous Unix experience was with BSD-derived systems, so I went with
FreeBSD.)
If you don't know anyone and don't have previous experience to
draw on, then flip a coin. Better yet, browse your local bookstore to
find a couple of good Unix books. Most Unix books I've seen seem to
emphasize either BSD Unix or SysV Unix, so you can pick the system
that matches your documentation. <grin> For myself, I'm using FreeBSD
2.0 and have been very happy. At some point, I'll pick up the
O'Reilly 4.4BSD-Lite manuals to have some solid docs on my bookshelf.
In article <3eprlq$lm@knobel.gun.de>,
Andreas Klemm <andreas@knobel.GUN.de> wrote:
>Best would be to install both, and then decide yourself.
Ditto. If that's too much, install one, stick with it,
and enjoy it.
- Tim Kientzle